Historically, lead projectiles have been utilized with firearms. However, under certain conditions, environmental and/or wildlife regulations may preclude the use of lead as a projectile due to the toxicity thereof. As illustrative, non-exclusive examples, an animal might ingest the lead projectile, an animal that has been shot with a lead projectile might be consumed by another animal, and/or the lead might act as an environmental contaminant. Thus, alternative projectile materials have been pursued.
Steel, bismuth, tin, and/or tungsten-based projectiles all have been utilized, with limited success. However, each of these projectiles suffers from distinct disadvantages. As illustrative, non-exclusive examples, these projectiles may damage a barrel of a firearm, may not produce desired ballistic properties (such as a desired shot pattern, a desired shot velocity, a desired shot penetration, and/or a desired shot trail) when fired from a shotgun or other firearm, and/or may be expensive to manufacture compared to the expense to manufacture conventional lead projectiles. Thus, there exists a need for improved projectiles that may meet environmental and/or wildlife regulations regarding toxicity while also being economical to manufacture and/or while producing desired ballistic properties when fired from a shotgun or other firearm.